Operation Christmas Child to kick off shoe box campaign

Audrie Palmer

Published 6:09 am, Thursday, November 8, 2012

As they made their way up and down the aisles at a local Dollar Tree store last week, the women picked up items such as toothpaste and toothbrushes, notepads and Play-Doh and dropped them into the cart.

Emily Yoxsimer stopped in front of the display of pencils and grabbed a few packages.

"School supplies are so critical. It absolutely makes the difference whether they get to go to school or not," she said.

Yoxsimer is referring to the more than 9,000 children who received shoe boxes this summer from items collected and gathered by people in the Permian Basin last year. The boxes were shipped to the Operation Christmas Child ministry where they were distributed to more than 100 countries.

On Monday, the ministry will kick off its national collection week campaign with four drop-off locations in West Texas. This will be the second year a drop-off site will be in Midland at Midland Bible Church, 2800 N. "A" St.

The Midland collection site will be open from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday, Thursday and Friday; from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday and Nov. 19; and from 2-6 p.m. Sunday.

The boxes then will be collected Nov. 19 and sent to a shipping center to be processed before being sent overseas.

The processing centers are located in Boone, N.C.; Atlanta, Ga.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Charlotte, N.C.; Denver.; Santa Ana, Calif. and Honolulu. Next year, the organization plans to open an additional center in Dallas where an expected 500,000 boxes will be processed, Yoxsimer said.

In May, Yoxsimer had the opportunity to go to Uganda, and help with the dispersion of the shoe boxes. She talked with pastors and orphan workers and watched first-hand the children come to receive their gifts. She said the trip gave her a new perspective on packing the boxes and shopping for its contents.

"Operation Christmas Child is just a way for a door to be opened and us to be able to serve the community," she said.

This year marks the 10th year for the ministry and after this collection week is finished, Yoxsimer said the organization will collect more than 100 million boxes. A goal of 10,001 has been set this year for the Permian Basin.

Connie Perrin hosted a packing party after work Thursday night. The party was the first of its kind for her office and served as a way to bring all the employees together.

She's been collecting items for the boxes since last year and said that over spring break, her two sisters came to visit and the three of them headed out to shop for supplies.

With each person bringing their items in to be packed, the office set everything up so that 'packers' could move from each station quickly and help pack a complete box. The boxes will be dropped off Monday at the church.

Perrin sent out a list of items around her office that co-workers could bring, some of which were items Perrin has been collecting throughout the year.

Whenever she finds socks or toys on clearance racks or on sale, sometimes even as low as a dime each, she's stocks up on the items.

After the holidays when stores are looking to get rid of their seasonal hard candy and party favors is when Perrin and Yoxsimer said they look for items. One such item was found after Valentine's Day when a local store was discontinuing several bouncy balls.

"If you have no ball, you don't care if it's a pink one. Any kind of ball is a cool thing," Yoxsimer said.

This is volunteer Frank Ramos' second year to participate with the program. He said that what he loves about it is being able to reach those who don't know Jesus.

"We can't change the circumstance of where these children are living, but we can determine where they'll spend eternity," he said.

Perrin met a young man recently who grew up in an orphanage in Russia. There were 40 children in each room and the group was allowed to bathe once a month. They each used the same bar of soap and towel. So when the boy received a shoe box one year that included a washcloth, that small piece of fabric became his treasure, Perrin said.

"He finally had his own towel. It's items like that that we take for granted," she said.

The boy was adopted and now lives in the United States. Each holiday season, he packs boxes to send overseas to continue the legacy and help the other orphans in his native country.

For those who don't want to shop or don't have the time, the ministry has a link on its website where volunteers can purchase items online, build a box and have it shipped.

But for some, it's all about actually getting to go out and package their own box or two.

"It's something anybody can do regardless of their age. Just look for things that you can put in a shoe box that they might need in another country," said Midland Bible Church coordinator Kelly Gillett as she roamed the toy aisle at the store.

- A personal note: Those packing boxes are encouraged to enclose a note to the child and a photo of oneself or family.

- Do not include: Used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military figures; chocolate or food; out-of-date candy; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items such as snowglobes or glass containers and aerosol cans.